Youth Voices in Community Action and Governance Study

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Youth Voices in Community Action and Governance
Study

• Carrie Mook and Julie Petrokubi, UW-Madison
• in collaboration with
• Youth Voices in Community Action and Governance
  Work Team
• Financial support provided by Morgridge Center
  for Public Service at UW-Madison

Wisconsin 4H Youth Development Conference
05/11/05
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Youth in Governance (YIG)

• YIG Young people making decisions and taking
  actions that affect communities.
• YIG identified as a priority for state and
  national 4-H
• Work team wanted to know more
• Whats already happening around the state?
• Whats helping and hindering implementation?
• What is needed to support YIG in counties?

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Phase I Surveys

• METHOD
• Self-report questionnaire mailed to each
  county 4-HYD staff member (68 returned)
• PURPOSE
• To get a snapshot of YIG practices throughout
  all of Wisconsin
• Standardized, comprehensive data to build on
  previous case studies and informal reports

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Phase I Surveys
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. In what settings do 4-HYD agents involve youth in
   governance?
2. What is the nature of YIG in these settings?
3. What roles do agents play in supporting YIG?
4. What expertise about YIG can agents share with
   each other?
5. What resources or supports to agents want to
   promote YIG in their counties?

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Q1. In what settings do agents involve youth in
governance?
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Q1. In what settings do agents involve youth in
governance?
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School System

• School-based program partnered with Extension (8)
  (e.g., Money Wizards, Friends Helping Friends,
  service learning)
• School district committee (3)
• Student governance body (2)
• High school forum (2)
• School board (1)

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Legislative System

• Other legislative settings (5)(e.g., Project
  Citizen, Superior Days, lobby groups)
• Legislative committee (1)
• City council (1)

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Judiciary System

• Teen Court (13)
• No other judiciary settings identified

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Executive System

• Executive board or commission (2)
• No other executive settings identified

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Multi-Agency Coalitions

• Issue-specific coalition, project, event
  (30)(e.g., Tobacco Coalition, Healthy
  Communities Healthy Youth)
• Multi-agency committee (11)
• Multi-agency youth advisory group (6)(e.g., Teen
  Leadership Council)
• Community foundation (1)
• Other multi-agency setting (1)

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VARIANCE BY DISTRICT
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VARIANCE BY DISTRICT
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VARIANCE BY CLUB MEMBERSHIP
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Q2. What is the nature of YIG in these settings?

• TYPES OF YOUTH ROLES
• Consulting
• Decision-Making
• Programming/Implementation
• Evaluating
• Fund-Developing/Grant-Making

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Q2. What is the nature of YIG in these settings?
NUMBER OF ROLES IN EACH SYSTEM
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Q2. What is the nature of YIG in these settings?

• ESTABLISHMENT OF YOUTH ROLES

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• NATURE OF PARTICIPATION

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• NATURE OF REPRESENTATION

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• DEGREE OF DECISION-MAKING POWER

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• LEVEL OF PARTNERSHIP

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Q3. What roles do agents play in supporting YIG?
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VARIANCE BY DISTRICT
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VARIANCE BY CLUB MEMBERSHIP
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Q4. What expertise do agents with to share with
each other?

• Comments typed and available for you.
• THEMES
• Recruiting/choosing adults
• Recruiting/choosing youth
• Advocating, building confidence
• Focusing on vision outcomes
• Getting started
• Building relationships partnerships
• Designating authentic roles for youth
• Educating training
• Mentoring encouraging

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Q5. What resources/supports do agents want to
promote YIG?

• Comments typed and available for you.
• Work team will use this data to plan for future.

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Other data work team will consider

• Your additional feedback for the work team
• Agents interest in mentoring others in YIG

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Phase II Interviews with 4-HYD county staff
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Research Questions

• What factors do 4-HYD county staff identify as
  contributing to the adoption of YIG practices at
  the local level?
• What are opportunities and supports for
  implementation?
• What are challenges and barriers to
  implementation?

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Methods

• In-depth interviews with 14 county staff
• Two or more counties from each district
• Sites selected to represent a range of YIG
  experience

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Preliminary Findings Key Themes

• Staff promote YIG by planting seeds
• Staff support YIG by laying a solid foundation
• 4-H tradition is both a barrier and support
• Staff roles vary widely across counties

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Common Challenges

• Finding time and resources to do it right
• Recruiting representative youth
• Fostering authentic partnerships
• Influencing decentralized clubs
• Finding balance between projects and issues

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Management Strategies

• Planting seeds Focusing attention on YIG
• Walking the talk Translating ideas into
  action
• Making YIG how we do business Promoting
  shared ownership and sustainability

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Planting Seeds 4-HYD

• Connect YIG with 4-H mission, values and
  tradition
• Provide examples of successful projects in
  Wisconsin 4-HYD
• Focus on new volunteers and transitions in
  leadership

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Planting Seeds Community

• Build community networks
• Develop a good pitch
• Find a champion
• Capitalize on opportunities and issues

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Planting Seeds General Strategies

• Provide stakeholders with concrete examples and
  constant updates.
• Ask tough questions that challenge adults to
  explain why youth are not at the table.
• Talk about YIG in terms that resonate with your
  communitys interests and needs.

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Initiation Stories 4-HYD

• 4-HYD staff model effective Y-AP
• 4-HYD staff ask volunteers Where are the
  youth?
• 4-HYD volunteers get inspired by YIG in other
  counties

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Initiation Stories Community

• 4-HYD as initiator and advisor
• 4-HYD as co-founder
• 4-HYD as community collaborator

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Walking the Talk General Strategies

• Provide training and resources that prepare youth
  and adults to work together.
• Facilitate activities that build relationships
  and skills.
• Prepare adults for change by providing examples
  of how they can adjust their structures to
  support meaningful youth participation.

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Making YIG How we do business General
Strategies

• Institutionalize YIG by documenting models and
  policy changes.
• Recruit a wide age range of youth to ensure that
  youth will not all age out at once.
• Be intentional in planning for an eventual
  decrease of 4-H staff involvement in
  implementation of projects.

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Next Steps

• Gather feedback from todays discussion
• Work team meets in June to plan next steps
• Continue analyzing interviews
• Conduct case studies